This invention concerns a process for making certain anti-inflammatory compounds. In particular, the application concerns a process for making compounds of formulas I and Ia as disclosed hereinunder, which compounds are potent cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors.
Non-steroidal, antiinflammatory drugs exert most of their antinflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activity and inhibit hormone-induced uterine contractions and certain types of cancer growth through inhibition of prostaglandin G/H synthase, also known as cyclooxygenase. Up until recently, only one form of cyclooxygenase had been characterized, this corresponding to cyclooxygenase-1 or the constitutive enzyme, as originally identified in bovine seminal vesicles. Recently the gene for a second inducible form of cyclooxygenase (cyclooxygenase-2) has been cloned, sequenced and characterized from chicken, murine and human sources. This enzyme is distinct from the cyclooxygenase-1 which has now also been cloned, sequenced and characterized from sheep, murine and human sources. The second form of cyclooxygenase, cyclooxygenase-2, is rapidly and readily inducible by a number of agents including mitogens, endotoxin, hormones, cytokines and growth factors. As prostaglandins have both physiological and pathological roles, we have concluded that the constitutive enzyme, cyclooxygenase-1, is responsible, in large part, for endogenous basal release of prostaglandins and hence is important in their physiological functions such as the maintenance of gastrointestinal integrity and renal blood flow. In contrast, we have concluded that the inducible form, cyclooxygenase-2, is mainly responsible for the pathological effects of prostaglandins where rapid induction of the enzyme would occur in response to such agents as inflammatory agents, hormones, growth factors, and cytokines. Thus, a selective inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 will have similar antiinflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic properties to a conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and in addition would inhibit hormone-induced uterine contractions and have potential anti-cancer effects, but will have a diminished ability to induce some of the mechanism-based side effects. In particular, such a compound should have a reduced potential for gastrointestinal toxicity, a reduced potential for renal side effects, a reduced effect on bleeding times and possibly a lessened ability to induce asthma attacks in aspirin-sensitive asthmatic subjects.
WO 94/15932 published Jul. 21, 1994 discloses a multi-step method of making bi-aryl furans via bi-aryl lactones, which method utilizes a keto-ester internal cyclization to the lactone. We have found that a significant amount of undesired by-products are produced by use of the disclosed process scheme, due to the external cyclization reactions which compete with the desired internal cyclization. While these by-products can be removed by suitable separation and purification techniques, we have sought to identify alternative processes to obviate the difficulties.